Doily stretcher



March 17, 1964 F. H. VIA ETAL I DOILY STRETCHER Filed Jan. 29, 1962 In the drawings:

United States Patent 3,124,894 DOHLY STRETCHER Fred H. Via and Lassie C. Via, Henry, Va.

Filed Jan. 2, 1962, Ser. No. 169,413 6 Claims. (1. 4524) This invention relates to stretchers for doilies, and particularly to stretchers adapted for use in laundering socalled ruflied doilies.

Rufiied doilies have presented a problem to the housewife, for tremendous amounts of handwork and long periods of time have been required to launder them to cause them to assume the proper shape. The ruffled doily has a border area wherein there is considerable fullness of material, so that in this area the doily assumes an undulating, upstanding ruffle. If the undulations are not uniform, the doily is not attractive. It is difficult to launder the doily so that the undulations are uniform, and the heavily starched material forms softly rolling, upstanding rufiles forming a border about the fiat center.

The general object of the present invention is to provide a ruffie doily stretcher which will hold the doily in proper position during drying to ensure precise rufile arrangement.

A more specific object is to provide a device of this kind which will hold the peaks of the undulating rufiie formation out of the plane of the doily center with each peak at the same distance from the plane of the center.

It is also an object to provide a stretcher which will hold the doily in finished shape while drying so that it will need no attention during the drying period.

Another object is the provision of a stretcher which includes a plurality of separable parts for ease in mounting a doily, with means for adjustment to suit each individual doily.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rufiied doily stretcher kit including a number of substitute parts to enable the device to be used with doilies of many sizes and shapes, so that one kit will enable the housewife to launder a wide variety of ruffled doilies.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of one practical embodiment thereof, when taken in conjunction with the drawings which accompany, and form part of, this specification.

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a rufiied doily stretcher embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a bottom plan view of the structure removed from the drying plate and with a doily in place for stretching;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section through the device, taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 1, with parts being broken away and the structure being shown on an enlarged scale; and

FIGURE 4 is a partial plan view, similar to FIGURE 2, with a different center plate in position for stretching a doily of different shape.

In general, the doily stretcher of the present invention consists of a ruflie attaching plate and a center plate held in adjustable spaced relation on a center post to position and hold a doily being dried and stretched with its center portion and spaced points of the ruffle edge in different parallel planes so that the doily rufiie may as sume the desired undulating shape.

Referring to the drawings in detail, there is shown a stretcher 1, which includes a center post 2, a rufifie edge attaching plate 3 adjustably mounted on the post, and a center bearing plate 4 also carried by the post 2. It is contemplated that center plates of various sizes and shapes will be supplied with the kit, and that a drying plate 5 3,124,894 Patented Mar. 17, 1964 be furnished, but this last named member is not essential to the operation of the device as the doily to be stretched could be placed upon any flat surface.

The rufile edge attaching plate 3 is circular in form, and can be of any desired material. The plate is provided with a central hub 6 projecting from its top. An opening 7 extends through the plate and hub so that the plate may be slipped over the post 2. A pin 18 through a diametral hole 8 in the hub and a selected one of a plurality of holes 9 in the post secures the plate to the post at a desired position.

The attaching plate carries a plurality of concentric rows 10 of rufiie edge-engaging hooks 11 on its underside. These hooks have vertical shanks 12 embedded in the plate, and horizontal, outwardly pointing doily impaling prongs 13, spaced from the undersurface of the plate. The rows are of proper diameters to hold the edges of doilies of different sizes. The inner rows will have lesser numbers of hooks than the outer ones in accordance with the requirements of doilies of different sizes.

The center bearing plate 4 is circular, oval, or rectangular as required for a particular doily to be stretched. As stated above, several sizes and shapes may be supplied as part of a complete kit. The plates will have center hubs 14 on their tops, with the hubs having recesses 15 to receive, and seat, the bottom end of the post 2. The plates, preferably, will have perimetral rims 16 and spokes, or braces, 17 extending from the central hubs to the rims. This will provide an open construction which will allow for the free circulation of air to the center of a doily on the stretcher.

The drying plate 5 is simply a solid fiat plate upon which a wet doily may be placed and held during stretching, to provide a drying surface to protect a table or counter which is used to support the stretcher.

In using the device, a washed and starched ruffle-type doily is squeezed to remove sufiicient moisture so that it will not drip, and then spread upon the drying plate 5, or other suitable flat surface, with the center portion smoothed fiat. A center bearing plate 4 of proper size and shape is selected from the kit and laid flat and right side up upon the center of the doily to substantially cover the center area and leave the rufiie to be stretched uncovered. The plate is placed with its hub 14 upward, and the post 3 is seated in the hub recess to stand upright. The rufile edge attaching plate 3 is slipped on the post with the rows of hooks downward, and the plate moved downwardly until the ruflie edge will just reach the hooks of the proper row when stretched tightly. Pin 18 is then inserted through hole 8 in the plate hub and the proper hole 9 in the post to hold the ruffle attaching plate at the desired height above the center plate 4. The ruflie edge at evenly spaced points is pulled up and impaled upon the proper hooks 11 to hold it taut. The loops of the rufiie intermediate the impaled points are smoothed evenly on the surface of the drying plate. This operation will position the doily center flat beneath the center plate and the bottom of the edge loops of the ruflie will be seated upon the same drying plate and, therefore, lie in the same plane as the center. The upper loop edges of the rufiie will be held at the required distance above the center impaled upon the pins, or hooks, 11. When the doily is dry, it is removed from the stretcher. By placing the thumbs in the rufile loops they can be pulled evenly into desired shape. Thus, the rufiie will be formed correctly with little effort and the doily need not be worked while it is drying.

It will be understood that different size center plates will be used for different size doilies, and the row of hooks 11 selected will also be determined by the doily size. If an oval, or rectangular, doily is to be stretched,

a center plate of companion shape will be used and the hooks of the several rows used to follow as closely as possible the outline of the doily. This arrangement is shown in FIGURE 4.

While in the above one practical embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it will be understood that the specific details of construction shown and described are merely for purposes of illustration, and the invention may take other forms Within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is: p v

1. A stretcher for a doily having a flat center portion and a perimetral ruffle area of considerable fullness comprising, a center plate to overlie the center portion of a doily to be stretched, a post seatable vertically in the center plate, and a ruffle attaching plate adjustably positionable in said post in vertically spaced relation to the center plate, the rufile attaching plate having at least one row of rufile impaling hooks perimetrically therearound.

2. A stretcher for a doily as claimed in claim 1 wherein, there are releasable means to hold the rufiie attaching plate at selected positions along the post.

3. A stretcher for a doily as claimed in claim 1 wherein, there are a plurality of parallel rows of ruffle impaling hooks perimetrically around the ruffle attaching plate.

4. A stretcher for a doily having a flat center portion and a perimetral rufile area of considerable fullness comprising, a center plate the size and shape of the center portion of a doily to be stretched to overlie the center portion of the doily, the center plate having a central recess, a post seatablevertically in the recess in the center plate, a rufile attaching plate having a central opening to slidably receive the post, means for securing the rufile attaching plate to the post at selected positions along the post, and a plurality of parallel rows of ruffle impaling References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED 'STATES PATENTS Robertson Jan. 3, 1961 Fiduccia July 4, 1961 

1. A STRETCHER FOR A DOILY HAVING A FLAT CENTER PORTION AND A PERIMETRAL RUFFLE AREA OF CONSIDERABLE FULLNESS COMPRISING, A CENTER PLATE TO OVERLIE THE CENTER PORTION OF A DOILY TO BE STRETCHED, A POST SEATABLE VERTICALLY IN THE CENTER PLATE, AND A RUFFLE ATTACHING PLATE ADJUSTABLY POSITIONABLE IN SAID POST IN VERTICALLY SPACED RELATION TO THE CENTER PLATE, THE RUFFLE ATTACHING PLATE HAVING AT LEAST ONE ROW OF RUFFLE IMPALING HOOKS PERIMETRICALLY THEREAROUND. 